Elected Gospel

Nov 10, 2018

The more I read the Bible, the more I see Christ and God's election and the gospel of God's salvation through his Son, Jesus. What I can't figure out is how anyone can make sense of Scripture without taking into account the reality of God's election; predestination; His sovereign and free choice and predetermination over EVERYTHING. What specifically gets my attention is that without the truth of God's election or predestination, the gospel of Jesus Christ does not make sense.

God makes promises and His work secures their completion. Why anyone would want to remove His doing that (as if they could), is beyond me. But, people do want to remove God's election and they suffer weakness in attempting to do it. If God cannot determine, by His will, to make happen what He said would happen, what would be the point in promising it? It doesn't make sense.

Look at this prayer of Jesus' followers that was recorded in Acts:

  “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. Acts 4:23-28.

God has a kingdom and His kingdom existed before the creation of the earth. God has a Son and His Son was His Son from before the foundation of the earth – this is the Christ, who is eternal. The Son, the Christ, was determined to be judge of heaven and earth before the earth existed. God is creator and He is Savior. It was all His idea and only He could or would carry it out. To imagine that He waits or moves in accordance with any human decision just does not make sense.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matthew 25:34

The kingdom of God was predestined.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 1 Peter 1:20-21

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. John 6:38

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” John 18:37

Jesus Christ was predestined. His birth was predestined. His ministry was predestined. His death was predestined. His resurrection was predestined. Jesus Christ's position as judge, savior, and ruler of heaven and earth was predestined. If these things had not been elected, predestined, by God and brought about by God's power, regardless of any man, none of us would have any hope. The good news of salvation without predestination does not make any sense.

The saints of old – before Jesus came to the earth, were saved by faith in God's salvation through the One who was to come. If this had not already been determined and testified to by God, they would have had nothing to believe and so would have no salvation. For salvation is by grace through faith (believing). They were banking on a future, (already decided) event and a future (already chosen) person to complete it. The saints of today are saved by the same person and the same event; namely, Jesus Christ; His birth, life, death on the cross and resurrection. If the saints of old have no salvation, neither do we today.

At this moment God's people everywhere, even in heaven, are waiting for the King, Jesus, to return to the earth to judge the world and take His children to Himself forever. The second coming of Christ is an already appointed happening. The day and the hour have already been decided by the Father. It is set and cannot be changed. God has elected a time of judgment; a day of reckoning. It has been predetermined. If this day has not been determined already by God, we have nothing to look forward to in the future and our inheritance in heaven is questionable. Without God's predestination and election of events, our future does not make any sense.

I suppose for me, one of the most beautiful things about Jesus is that He submitted perfectly to all that God had destined for Him. Being God, of course, Jesus knew what was coming for Him. Being man, He did not flinch, but set His face like flint to His own death to keep us from the power of death forever. His earthly life was one of loneliness, disrespect, long hours, weariness, hunger, sleeplessness, harassment from Satan, unbelief from His own earthly family, betrayal of a friend, not being recognized as God and Savior by His own people; being falsely accused, treated like a criminal, beaten, spit on, mocked, and finally brutally murdered. All of it was predetermined by God and He knew it.

Where is the one who will lament that it was unfair that God decided ahead of time that Jesus was to suffer this way? Who would dare to imply that Jesus would do otherwise than to perfectly incline to the will of His Father? How could it be possible that being perfectly One with the Father, Jesus could do otherwise? Did He have a choice? It was determined and God had testified by His word through the prophets to all that Jesus would do and suffer and that He would be exalted to the highest Authority. God predetermined and elected our salvation and our Savior. To remove the beauty of God's election in Jesus' suffering is to make His sacrifice small. Without God's predestination of His own Son, Jesus' would not have had anything to look forward to in His suffering. It was “for the joy set before him” that He endured the cross. Without God's election of His Son and all the events in His earthly walk, Jesus' suffering does not make any sense.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news of a promise fulfilled by the only one who could possibly fulfill it. Any promise that would be fulfilled must have a preconceived idea of what is being promised and an existing power to carry it out. Without predestination, none of God's promises are any good. Indeed, He has no right to make them if He cannot determine that they will be completed since the possibility of failure would make Him not who He says He is; ALMIGHTY.

If God Almighty, does not predetermine and in sovereign power carry out all of His plans; if He is not in complete control of all things at all times and does not have each things already decided -

NOTHING makes any sense!

Psalm 41:10

  My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?”  
  And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he   goes out, he tells it abroad. 
 All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me.  
  They say, “A deadly thing is poured out on him; he will not rise again from where he lies.” 
  Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. 
  But you, O LORD, be gracious to me, and raise me up, that I may repay them!   Psalm 41:5-10


David wrote this psalm, but it was Christ speaking it.  Jesus, who was yet to come, here speaks through His servant and cries out to His Father about His enemies.  How mysterious!  Here, as in many places in Scripture, Christ calls out His enemies and pleas for their destruction.  Indeed, He orders their destruction.

Verse 10 of this psalm reads, "raise me up, that I may repay them!"  It is interesting that He does not say, "raise me up that I may save them."

The enemies of Christ are the enemies from before the foundation of the world and they will be destroyed.  They will not know mercy but will only know the wrath of God.

All who are in relationship with God the Father now, through the Son, will never know this wrath reserved for God's enemies.  This applies to those who will yet come to God through Jesus.  All who are in Christ or who will ever be in Christ have been in Him from before the foundation of the world and God's mercy and goodness is stored up for them.
 
Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Even though we know through Romans 5:10 that we who now know God were once His enemies, we were not His eternal enemies.  We were enemies who were destined to become His children.  God's eternal enemies are those who enslave, persecute and crush His people - on a spiritual level.

The Devil and the World and the Flesh are the enemies of God.  They capture and enslave humans for the glory of evil.  Satan and his demons seek the demise of God's children so that they can make God out to be a liar and prove Him false, which is not possible.

Jesus Christ, who died for His people, cries out for the destruction of the enemies of God.  He has cried out from of old, even as He calls out an eternal gospel.  Christ is raised and He is raised to repay the enemies of God.

The enemies of Jesus Christ are the enemies of His children.  It is good and right to cry out against the enemies of God and to plead for their destruction.  Every temptation and evil thought; every selfish motive and self loving act; every doubt and backsliding are the works of the enemies of God.  Although these things seem to be present in the person of God, they are not of the person of God but are of the enemy.  We call out for the destruction of God's enemies, knowing that we, ourselves are hidden safely in Christ - His new creation.

God Himself will once and for all utterly crush His enemies and we will enter into a blissful rest where there is no more temptation and taunting and accusations.  Even now, God is faithful to rebuke and chase away the enemies from us when we cry out to Him.  We can confidently and earnestly call out to our Father, with the voice of His Son, who helps us pray through His Holy Spirit, "Rescue me from my enemies!"

As Christ spoke through David, we today, speak through the Spirit of Christ:
"By this I know that you delight in me:  my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. 
But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen."  Psalm 41:11-13

Value Assessments

October 11,2018

 

Luke 14:26  "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."

Luke records Jesus speaking this to the crowds of people that followed him.  Any sane person says, "Wait a minute, we need to clarify what Jesus is really saying."  That is reasonable and right given what we know about Jesus from the Scripture.  Then we can read how Jesus spoke in the same way to His disciples:

Matthew 10:37  "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

Now, we see it makes a little more sense.  One might say, "Yes, I can see that is right.  I should love Jesus more than anything, but how do I do that and how will I know if I am doing it?  This also is hard."  There is something similar recorded about a young man who asked Jesus how to obtain eternal life.  


Matthew 19:21  Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."  When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.


This seems pretty clear and one might say, "What a fool that young man was!  Of course, he should have sold his goods.  What a shame that he loved money more than eternal life.  This is something one could do."

One thing Jesus says seems out of order; not understandable.  Another thing He says seems sensible but difficult and the third reference seems to be a no-brainer.  However, none of these are about easy or hard or should or shouldn't. They are all impossible.  These are about value assessments of  Jesus and no matter how much you tell yourself that you should value Jesus above all, you cannot and you will not unless you are able to see His value.  However, once having "assessed" His value, you cannot not do these things.

To love one thing more than another requires that a value be assessed for the things compared.  You can't assess something that you have never seen or experienced.  It doesn't really matter if the value is based on emotion or practical use.  You will value what you value and although you can discourage or encourage the valuing, you can't really think yourself into loving or not loving something.  If that thing or person has value to you, that is the assessment.  The only thing that can change a bad value assessment is to know something of better value.  So surly, you know where I am going with this.  Don't ask me why it takes so long, it just does :)

God's value is hands-down, beyond-words greater than anything or anyone, ever!  However, unless He reveals Himself, one cannot value Him.  It is impossible to value God more than a piece of trash if He has not revealed Himself to you.  Now, once one has seen and known God, because God has made Himself known through Christ, on a personal basis, God's value remains in that person.  It is true that we may become temporarily distracted and always tempted to value other things more than God, but once God has made His value known to a person, that person will ultimately love Jesus more than all things and all people.  The Holy Spirit will light up the soul again and again so as to enable one to see and to cherish Christ forever. 

One who knows God will love Jesus more than everything; not because he has to in order to avoid being kicked out of the kingdom, or because a toll has been placed on the road to heaven that he must pay up front, or because he is so very strict with what he allows himself to enjoy on the earth.  He will love Jesus more because he will not be able to do otherwise; because Jesus is so much more valuable.  Now, as I pointed out, all who love Jesus, will be tempted and will unintentionally and momentarily value Him less than they would if they were seeing correctly.  But God, being most eager to uphold His great value (and rightly so!), will, in a variety of ways, help that one to see rightly.  And when we see rightly, we say as Peter did: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."  (John 6:68-69)  It is notable that Jesus had just pointed out, in this same conversation, "I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." (John 6:65)

We can trust that since God was pleased to reveal His Son to us and knows that it is impossible to love Him above ourselves - even for a second - without His enabling, that He will help us to value Him in Christ that we might keep His commands.  It is also given us to help ourselves and to help each other.  Rather than rehearsing to yourself (again) all the reasons that you cannot obey God such as:  your sinful human nature, the personality you had the bad luck to be stuck with, the rotten deal you got in childhood, the lack of discipleship and good examples in your life, or whatever; try calling to mind all the things about Jesus Christ that you can.  Think and read and tell yourself about how He is, who He is; His kindness, goodness, real humility, true wisdom, unmatched power - it never ends.  He never ends!  Help yourself to remember and see how valuable He is.  Then, help someone else.  Stop putting "humility" over the excuse to talk about yourself!  Maybe being honest about how rotten you are helps the next person feel a little better about how rotten they are, but it doesn't promote what is necessary, which is valuing Christ over yourself.  I think the reasoning is that if we see that one thing has little value (ourselves), we will see the other (God) as being more valuable in comparison.  So the idea is that if we see how bad we are, we will see how good God is, in comparison.  That is not good reasoning!  There is no comparing!  God is absolutely more valuable than anything or anyone at any time.  Even if we weren't all rotten to the core, which we are, He would still be of infinite, eternal, seriously unknowable-on-this-earth valuable - the MOST HIGH.  So it isn't good reasoning and it doesn't work.  That is why the Bible is about GOD, not about us.

Consider this example (maybe a silly one):  Let's say that I have an old piece of furniture that I am very attached to.  I love it.  You come to my house and you comment on it's character and style and good condition and when you leave I love it more.  Or maybe you come over and you make a face at it and others do the same.  After a short while, I love it less.  Maybe no one ever even comments on it. They don't even notice it.  Over time I will love it less.  We like to think that we do not influence each other in this way, but we do.  We are meant to influence each other, for Christ valuing and Christ loving, so that we don't have to walk around worried that when the bill comes we won't have the guts to pay the cost of discipleship.  Keep your eyes on the prize of Christ; go gaze at that Pearl of Greatest Value; run out and run your hands through the Treasure in the field and you will know that whatever the cost, no thing or person can out-value Jesus, the Son of God. 

Natural and Supernatural

October 9, 2018   

  Anyone who has managed in a business or who has worked for a manager or who has been a teacher or who has had a teacher knows that business school does not make one a manager and a college education does not make one a teacher.   One who manages effectively and one who teaches well benefits and adds to their strength with education, but they manage and teach well because they are managers and teachers to begin with.  It is who they are.
       An artist does not become an artist through art school and a singer does not sing because of voice training.  However, they certainly do well to take on training if they can get it.  They paint and draw and sing and dance because it is who they are.  It is who God has made them.
      When speaking about the things of the earth, this concept seems obvious, at least to me it does.  It puzzles me, therefore, how it seems that there are so many men who are accepted as pastors simply because they went to seminary and they are accepted as preachers because they have learned how to speak effectively.
       In the natural, earthly realm, there are things one can teach but the essence of that thing must become known on a deeper level than simply remembering things that were read or heard and repeating them or reenacting them.  That is why people say they have a good doctor or a good mechanic.  They don't think so much about the training, in fact, they probably don't even check to see if they were trained at all.  But they can tell, at times, almost intuitively, whether or not they know what they are doing.  People make these judgments all the time.
      As in the natural or earthly realm, so it is with the spiritual realm.  Or I should say that as it is in the spiritual, it is in the earthly, since the spiritual came first.  My point is that since we recognize the difference between cerebral knowledge and deeper knowledge (the sense of acquaintance with something) in our earthly dealings, how is it that this practice of discernment is so neglected when it comes to God's words and ways?  If a man has graduated from seminary, he is said to be a pastor.  If he can also speak well publicly, it may also be said of him that he is a preacher.  This does not mean that he knows Jesus Christ or that he acts and speaks from Christ.
     God is spirit and His loving Word is spiritual.  It is not possible to deal with God and work in His work and minister with His Word with the natural man running the show.  God must be running the show through His Spirit, if it is to be truly ministry.  If the Holy Spirit is not in it, it is not from God.  Anyone can read a Bible text and repeat what others have said about it.  And it would seem anyone does just that - but only that.  But, some will say, "look, he is actually reading from the Bible", apparently as opposed to the many who don't even do that.  So what!  Reading from the Bible is not the same as knowing the author and speaking in His interests.  That is only done by the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is not natural; human.  It is supernatural; of God, spiritual, and is discernible by those who have the Spirit of God.  Others may say, "Yes, but he is of our doctrine."  Right.  Just because you can read the menu doesn't mean you can cook the food - or should even try.  What most would say and do say about discernment is something like: "Who am I to judge?"  You are to judge!  You are to be watching and listening and judging it all!  The largest word in the Bible is not "UNITY"; it is "GOD", specifically, "JESUS".
       Generally, people seem reconciled to the fact that the majority of those who say they are Christians have not actually met Jesus Christ.  It follows then that those behind the pulpit would also follow the ratio of believer to hypocrite.  I suppose my question, however naive it may appear, is "why is that OK?"  Why is it rational and acceptable for me to say that I don't want to use a particular dentist because I don't get the feeling he really knows what he is talking about, but if I say that about a guy who is in a pastoral position, I am being mean and judgmental?  What do I know about dentistry?  Not much, but they are my teeth!  What do I know about being a pastor?  Nothing.  But, I know THE Pastor.  I know the kinds of things that Jesus says and does and I know what He likes and what He hates and if you know Him, so do you.
     So, what is the fuss about?  Why do I get on a soap box about something like this?  Because a natural man feeding God's sheep is a danger and an insult.  It is dangerous because the spiritual man is always tempted to deny God and do things according to the flesh.  The natural man cannot see or teach God's word from anything but an earthly perspective so he is always drawing the eyes of his hearers down, toward themselves - even with the best and most sacrificial and humble sounding language. It is an insult because Jesus Christ has appointed spiritual leaders - where are they!?  There are men equipped especially by God to tend to His sheep.  What an insult to Jesus to leave this position laying around for the common man to pick up. The spiritual man is not exempt from error, of course, but only he can speak from a Godly perspective, because in Christ, he has this very perspective.  It is not theory for him, but reality.  This man will draw the eyes of the hearer upward toward Christ - even on accident.  Listen to these things:

"For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generations than the sons of light."  Luke 16:8

 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.   The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.   "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.  1 Cor. 2:12-16

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.  But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Heb. 5:12-14

Everybody Has A Psalm

From:  Right Now:)

The other day as I was reading my Bible, the Lord pointed something out to me that I thought would be worth sharing.

In 2 Samuel Chapter 2 the writer records Hannah's prayer to God.  I recognized a portion of this prayer to be the same as the verses 7-9 of Psalm 113.  A couple weeks ago, we happened to hear a sermon on these verses, which is why I recognized it.  The words of the verses in the Psalm are as follows:

Psalm 113:7-9  He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.  He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children.  Praise the LORD! Compare that with 1 Samuel 2:1-10, if you like.


What struck me more than the actual words that were similar was the idea that this psalm very likely was Hannah's prayer that had been recorded and remembered in a psalm.  I thought "Hannah had a psalm!"  She wasn't really anybody of importance or one we would think of in connection with writing psalms, yet  she poured out her heart from the fullness of what God had done and out came this psalm.  Her words which were recorded for all time came from her wonderment of what God had done - for her.  It was marvelous and it was personal and she wasn't trying to impress anyone in her correct analysis of the situation.  She simply spoke what the Holy Spirit had welled up inside of her on seeing God do mighty works.

If Hannah had a psalm, doesn't everybody who knows God in Jesus have a psalm?  I'm not talking about adding to God's Scripture.  I'm talking about adding your voice to the many testimonies of God's great work and awesome character.  What has God done for YOU?  Don't count His faithfulness to you as a small thing but let others know of the mighty things He has done.  What you have seen does not have to compare with the parting of the Red Sea.  

People keep remaking the same hymns, and quoting the same old stories. They are wonderful testimonies of God's greatness and they should be shared, but, I wonder, are there any who have seen God for themselves?  Where are their songs, their stories or paintings?  Where is your song, your psalm?

Hannah said, as recorded in 1 Sam. 2 1, "My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in the LORD." 

 These words are helping me to see something important.  Not only is there a connection with her exulting and her strength being exalted, but there is a connection between her exulting and my strength being exalted.  Maybe that is why the Apostle Paul stresses "rejoice in the Lord".  There is a reason this same apostle wrote about addressing one another with "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs".    It is important.                                            

Promising Commands

From February, 1998

I reflect on all that God expects from His own people.  He commands us to love in truth, to be merciful and to worship in Spirit and truth and so much more - all of which He enables us to do in Christ.  He has given us everything that we need to please Him.  His Spirit in us creates the desire and will for us to obey God and delight in doing so.

It occurs to me that the commands of God are not directing us to muster up what we don't feel but rather to remind us of what He will do.  By God's Spirit, because we are a new creation in Christ, we will do what He commands because the Holy Spirit, given by Jesus Christ cannot be disobedient to God.  

God's words and commands should help us to grow in faith, knowing that we will accomplish all He has set for us providing we follow our guide, the Spirit of God in Christ.  We need not read God's commands with guilt at what we have not done, but with joy at what the Spirit is working and will work in us.

Real Life, Real Family

From February, 1998

God Himself raises His children.  Christ gives us the Holy Spirit, who is God - not a nanny.  The Spirit teaches us all things.  

When the full number of God's children are brought into the Kingdom, we will be a real family; God's family.  What will it be like when God brings us home; when Christ comes for those he has purchased?

The true delight in something purchased is realized after it is brought home.  What we think of as our end is the beginning of the fullness of life with God as He intended it to be from the beginning.  The table has been set, the rolls are in the oven.  We all wait for the Almighty to ring the dinner bell.  I wonder what life will be like.  I think it will be more exciting and active and challenging (in terms of fathoming all of God) than I can imagine.

Christ and His bride wait eagerly to be settled in their home.  My heart rejoices!

Thank You, Jesus, for me real life.  I trust, Holy Spirit, that you will take me home. 

God is pleased with God

From March, 1999

Only God can please God.  I cannot add to the happiness of God.  Anything that comes from me that is pleasing to God is from His Spirit in me.  I think of God as a massive river - going on with or without us.  In His mercy, He took pity on me and included me in the massive sweep.  I am only a vessel and that only because of God's mercy.  He overflows.

My flesh does not desire God or seek Him.  On the contrary, it desires darkness.  But God's Spirit is always drawn to Jesus Christ because God is only happy with God.  Because of God's compassion in making a way for me to be included in the sweep of Himself, I will seek God through His Spirit in me.  God's Spirit never fails; He is love and love never fails.
  
God has decided to include me and so is responsible to keep me according to His perfect will.  Since God indwells me with His Spirit, it is impossible for me not to know God because His Spirit will always go to Jesus Christ.  There is no other place for His Spirit to lead because God is only happy with God and His Spirit never fails.  He is love and love never fails.  The flesh may run from death and the enemy may try to separate me from God's Spirit, but God is more powerful and cannot be separated from Himself.  The Holy Spirit will always go to Christ; the Spirit lives in me.  The Spirit never fails.  Amen.

Fight Fear

From June 2018

Sometimes I am afraid of becoming what I hate - something lukewarm, false; a hypocrite.  The Lord reminds me that in my natural self that is what I already am so I need not worry about it.  In order for me to become something I hate, I must imagine that I am now something I could love.  The painful truth to that is self love.  Every wicked thing I see in others is in me also.  I don't have to worry about being what I hate; I already am what I hate.

There have been times that I have been anxious about being able to become what God loves.  The Lord reminds me that Jesus is already everything He loves so I need not be anxious about it.  Jesus, You are my life.  You are everything God loves and everything that I love.  So if I have died and live in You, there is only You.

I can't get any worse.  The old self is the worst, capable of every evil.  But I have died to the old self.  I can't get any better.  All holiness and goodness is already achieved for me.  There is no worst me or best me.  There is no me, only Jesus.  He has overcome the world.  He has overcome all of the worst possibilities for me and has accomplished all the best possibilities for me.

Grace is Far Reaching

From August, 2017

Lord Jesus, Your treasure is your glory and your glory is your people.

1 Thess. 2:19-20  For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?  Is it not you?  For you are our glory and joy.

The love of God in Christ Jesus is far reaching.  It goes to places an through people that we never could have imagined it would.  There have been times when I felt that all our work has been nothing but a drop in a bucket.  But I see now that one drop commanded by the Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, is extremely powerful while a whole bucket by the hand of man is nothing.